Telescoping rigid boat

ABSTRACT

A boat, made of several idependent sections designed to be stacked one inside the other each of which sections join together by means of tongue and groove joints to form the assembled boat. Each independent section of the boat is formed as a watertight shell of molded fiberglass plastic material, with the joint between adjacent assembled sections made along vertical adjoining walls of each section, and with each such wall enclosing the section to a level above the normal waterline. The tongue and groove joints fastening adjacent boat sections absorb all longitudinal and lateral forces between the joined sections, with shear bolts, joining the adjacent sections, absorbing the vertical forces between the joined sections. The minimum size boat is formed of a prow section, a mid-section and a stern board, the stern board being attachable to the rear grooves of the mid-section. The unit may be expanded into a boat of longer length by the addition of one or more mid-sections and by the addition of a stern section.

ited States Patent 1 Ewart, Jr.

[111 3,822,427 [45 July 9, 1974 [73] Assignee: The Raymond Lee Organization,

Inc., New York, NY. a part interest 22 Filed: Feb. 21, 1973 [21] Appl.No.:334,351

[52] US. Cl. 9/2 S, 114/77 R [51] Int. Cl B63b 7/04 [58] Field of Search 9/2 R, 2 C, 2 F, 2 S; 114/77 R, 77 A, .5 F

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 514,908 2/1894 Burton 9/2 S 842,349 l/l907 Skene i 9/2 S 1,900,319 3/1933 Vermuelen.... ll4/.5 F 2,650,376 9/1953 Summer 9/2 S 3,611,458 10/1971 Gonzalez 9/2 S Primary Examin'erLloyd L. King Assistant Examiner-Randolph A. Reese Attorney, Agent, or Firm-*l-loward l. Podell [57] ABSTRACT A boat, made of several idependent sections designed to be stacked one inside the other each of which sections join together by means of tongue and groove joints to form the assembled boat. Each independent section of the boat is formed as a watertight shell of molded fiberglass plastic material, with the joint between adjacent assembled sections made along vertical adjoining walls of each section, and with each such wall enclosing the section to a level above the normal waterline.

The tongue and groove joints fastening adjacent boat sections absorb all longitudinal and lateral forces between the joined sections, with shear bolts, joining the adjacent sections; absorbing the vertical forces between the joined sections.

4 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures l TELESCOPING RIGID BOAT BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of Invention This invention relates to a telescoping rigid boat which may be taken apart for stowage or transportation purposes, and may be assembled to various lengths, depending on the number of sections which are fastened together,

2. Prior Art 1 Collapsible boats of various sizes ahd shapes have been employed in the past. The assembly of such boats from the collapsed state to the assembled state has generally required a multiplicity of parts with the structural integrity of the joints generally depending on the employment of fasteners and other special shapes, which i are time-consuming to fit together, or remove.

The advantage .of this invention is that the basic structural integrity of the assembled joints of the boat is furnished by built-in tongue mating grooves which are molded into the exterior end walls that are joined together in the assembled boat. Such integral joints absorb all the longitudinal. and lateral forces between the separate joined sections. A minimum number of shear bolts are thus required to lock the joined sections in place,'thus expediting the job of assembling or disassembling the boat.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention consists of a telescopic rigid boat formed of several shell sections which are joined together by means of tongue and groove shapedsurfaces of the exterior joined walls and are designed to stack within adjoining sections. Each of the separate boat sections is formed in the shape of a waterproof shell, preferably molded of a fiberglass plastic composition, with the sides of the shell rising above the normal waterline level so that it is not necessary to caulk the joints between adjacent joining walls of two joined sections. 7

The assembled boat is lockedtog ether by shear bolts between each pair of adjacent joining walls with such bolts preferably mounted above the normal waterline level to avoid the necessity of caulking the bolt holes.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRE EMBODIMENT Turning now descriptively to the drawings, in which similar reference characters denote similar elements throughout the several views, FIG. 1 illustrates the various sections that make up a completed boat 10, including prow section 11, mid-section l2, and stem board 14. Alternately, instead of the use of a stern board 14,

' 2 the boat may be fitted with a stern section 13, or may terminate in a stern prow section 15.

The prow section 11 is formed with the shell of fiberglass plastic composition with the rear wall of the prow section forming the seat 21, which may be fitted with a hingeable lid 22 to cover a recessed cargo section 23.

The mid-section 12 is formed of a similar shell with a forward wall 24, sides 25 each fitted with oarlock castings 26, and a rear seat and wall 27 which also has a hinged lid 28 that covers additional recessed cargo space 29. The stem section 13 is a shell formed with forward wall 31, sides 32, and a stem end section 33 which is fittedv with an outboard motor mount 34 protruding above the rear stern wall.

Each of the three sections l1, l2 and 13 has waterproof integrity and will float independently of the other attached sections. The forward face 51 of rear sternboard is formed with'shaped vertical tongues 36 separated by matingly shaped undercut grooves 37 which fit the vertical undercut grooves 37 and projecting tongues 36 respectively of the rear vertical face 52 of the rear wall of any of the other sections, and particularly as shown in FIG. I, of the rear wall of the midsection 12. Preferably the tongues 36 and grooves 37 run in the vertical direction with respect to the normal position of the boat, although they may be shaped to run in the horizontal direction, with fastened shear bolts 45 then absorbing the vertical forces between adjoining sections.

The rear vertical face 52 of the wall section 27 of mid-section 12 is similarly equipped with tongues 36 and recessed grooves 37 which mate with the tongues and grooves of the forward face 51 of the sternboard 14, or the forward face 51 of the forward wall 24 of another mid-section 12 or the forward face 51 of stern section 13,-or the forward face 51 of the stern prow section 15. The stem prow section 15 is employed when it is desired to form an assembled boat in a canoeshaped configuration with a double prow.

An alternate embodiment of the boat 20 is shown in FIG. 2, with similar interlocking tongue and groove joints along the vertical faces of the adjoining sections, but with an additional longitudinal recess 41 in the bottom of each section adjoiningv the joint for use in mounting a tension member 42 which may be fitted into place by means of attaching bolts.

Referring to FIG. 1, the preferred embodiment of the boat 10 is locked, when the separate sections l1, l2 and 13 are assembled together in the tongue and groove joints 36 and 37 respectively, by shear bolts 45 which fit through holes 46 in the upper walls 47 of the joining sections of the separate boat sections/Holes 46 are oriented with their axes in the longitudinal direction of the boat, so that bolt or shear pin 45, when fastened by a nut or cotter pin in hole 46 prevents the separate joined sections from sliding in the vertical plane, relative to each other. Hand holds or handles may be fitted on upper walls 47 for ease in handling the attached boot section.

In FIG. 2, the separate sections of the alternate 'embodiment of the boat are locked in place by tension members 42 which are fitted into longitudinally oriented grooves 41 in the bottom surface .of each section, adjoining the end walls of the section. Tie members 42 may be locked in place by means of shear bolts 48 which pass through in the tie plates 42'and holes in the groove walls 49. Caulking of such holes in groove walls 52, is unnecessary, since the walls 49 are on the exterior bottom surface of the assembled boat.

In the disassembled mode, the prow section 11 may nest inside of the stern section 13, with the stern section 13 nesting inside the center section 12.

Since obvious changes may be made in the specific embodiment of the invention described herein, such modifications being within the spirit and scope of the invention claimed, it is indicated that all matter contained herein is intended as illustrative and not as limiting in scope.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A collapsible boat, which is formed by the joining together of several independent shell-shaped sections, each such shell-shaped section being shaped so as to be independently water-tight, said boat in the assembled state comprising a shell-shaped bow section, a stern section and one or more shell-shaped mid-sections, with the bow section formed of two side walls, a bottom wall and an end wall,

each mid-section formed of two side walls, a bottom wall and two end walls,

the stern section incorporating an end wall attachable externally to an end wall of a mid-section, with the exterior face of each end wall of each section continuously formed in the shape of projecting tongues and recessed grooves of a size and shape to mate with the respective grooves and tongues on a similar exterior face of an abutting end wall of an adjacent boat section, in the assembled state, said mating tongues and grooves forming a joint between attached sections that carries the longitudinal forces relative to the joined sections, with the adjoining boat sections each locked in place by removable shear members mounted through aligned holes in the abutting end walls of the attached sections of the boat, said aligned holes being located above the normal waterline of the assembled boat, so that the assembled boat has watertight integrity.

and a stern board. 

1. A collapsible boat, which is formed by the joining together of several independent shell-shaped sections, each such shellshaped section being shaped so as to be independently watertight, said boat in the assembled state comprising a shell-shaped bow section, a stern section and one or more shell-shaped midsections, with the bow section formed of two side walls, a bottom wall and an end wall, each mid-section formed of two side walls, a bottom wall and two end walls, the stern section incorporating an end wall attachable externally to an end wall of a mid-section, with the exterior face of each end wall of each section continuously formed in the shape of projecting tongues and recessed grooves of a size and shape to mate with the respective grooves and tongues on a similar exterior face of an abutting end wall of an adjacent boat section, in the assembled state, said mating tongues and grooves forming a joint between attached sections that carries the longitudinal forces relative to the joined sections, with the adjoining boat sections each locked in place by removable shear members mounted through aligned holes in the abutting end walls of the attached sections of the boat, said aligned holes being located above the normal waterline of the assembled boat, so that the assembled boat has watertight integrity.
 2. The combination as recited in claim 1, in which the stern section of the boat may be in the form of a stern board.
 3. The combination as recited in claim 1, in which the stern section is in the form of a shell-shaped bow section so that the assembled boat is of a canoe type configuration.
 4. The combination as recited in claim 1, in which the stern section is in the form of a shell-shaped section formed of two side walls, a bottom wall and end wall and a stern board. 